This is a guide on how to install ASReview for Windows.

 

Check if Python is installed

This section explains how to install Python on your computer. The ASReview software runs with Python in the background. Therefore, running ASReview requires having Python 3.6+ installed. Knowledge about Python is not necessary to run ASReview. To start ASReview you have to open the Command Line Interface (CLI). The CLI allows you to interact with your computer directly and is operated by text inputs (commands), rather than through a graphical interface with clickable buttons. If this is the first time you’re working in the CLI, don’t worry, as this tutorial will guide you through all the steps.

Several users encounter issues with installing ASReview since a recent upgrade of Windows due to an issue with the numpy dependency. Windows recently released a new version which, unfortunately, breaks all kinds of packages, including numpy. Numpy is a library for Python used by thousands of software packages including ASReview. If you recently upgraded windows you might encounter an error about numpy when installing ASReview. If so, you can find a solution on our Github page. Please let us know (via Github) if it solved your issue or if you found a different solution – MANY THANKS!

 

		Step 1: open cmd.exe (Command Prompt) To open the CLI, open the search field of Windows and enter CMD. Click on Command Prompt and the CLI will open.
		Step 2: check if python is installed   Check if Python is already installed on your computer. Within the CLI execute the following command (i.e., copy-paste this line of text and press enter): python --version   The command should return a message you have a Python version 3.6 or higher, but lower than 3.9 (to avoid dependency errors). If so, proceed with Step 4. If the Python version is different or if the command returns something like 'python' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file, you will have to install Python, proceed with Step 3.

 

Install Python

IMPORTANT: during the installation process make sure to check the box to add Python to your PATH environment variable:

Step 3: install Python To install Python; go to python.org/downloads to download Python version (3.8.6 instead of Python 3.9 to avoid dependency errors) for Windows and follow the default installation instructions. After installing Python, make sure to close and reopen your Command prompt (CMD.exe), and again execute python --version.

 

Install ASReview

If your Python version is 3.6 or higher but lower than 3.9, you can start installing the ASReview on your computer.

Step 4: install ASReview Execute the following in the Command prompt CMD.exe: pip install asreview 2. If ASReview was successfully installed  this command should return a bunch of text of which the last line is something like: Successfully installed asreview-0.14 If you want to use our COVID-19 plugin with thousands of Corona related papers (CORD19 database + pre-print database), you can install it by executing: pip install asreview-covid19 The plugin will be available automatically upon launching ASReview.

Note: if you run into an error at this step, try executing  python -m pip install asreview  instead. If this doesn’t fix your problems, please consult the Troubleshooting section of our documentation.

Launch ASReview

Step 5: Open ASReview Execute the following in the Command prompt (CMD.exe): asreview lab If ASReview was successfully installed this command should open a new window in your internet browser (it might take a minute or two).

 

Congratulations!

You are now ready to start using ASReview. Proceed with initializing your first project, uploading your data and then you can start with your first AI-aided systematic review – ENJOY!!

 

Be aware the software requires the data to be in a specific format, so be prepared!

 

More info

If you want to know more about the available features, if you have questions, or if you want to know more about the technical specifications, go to our documentation.